Westbrook High School lockdown over, no charges expected

WESTRBOOK, Maine — Four schools in Westbrook were locked down after a report with a man of gun in Westbrook High School.

It started at 9:15 a.m. Friday at the high school. That’s when a student reported seeing a man with a gun in the school.

Students were told to go to the nearest classroom, and parents were informed that the high school, adjoining vocational school, nearby grade school and middle school were all in lockdown after the report of a man with a gun.

Police officers raced to the school and started a room-by-room search.

Parents also got texts from both their children inside and the district.

A number of parents came to school where police had blocked off both ends of Stroudwater Street.

Several parents read text messages to CBS 13 from their children inside, which said how scared they were.

Students texted that the principal was going door-to-door with police, telling students to keep quiet, while police searched the high school for the man with a gun.

About 40 minutes later, police say they determined the man with the gun never actually entered the high school.

Police say the man with the gun, and the two men he was with, were later found and taken into custody. All three were students.

Police say the gun turned out to be an air pellet gun, and police said the student who owns the gun said it never left his vehicle.

Police chief Janine Roberts says they don’t believe there was any intent to fire the gun on school grounds.

There will be no criminal charges filed as a result of the incident. No laws were violated, according to police. “Because an airsoft pistol does not expel a projectile by the action of an explosive, it is not considered a firearm by Maine law,” Roberts said in a press release.

Some students left school with their parents, but most were told to go to their next class.